


Life Ahead of Us

by CorellianKenway



Series: Assassin's Creed One Shots and Drabbles [6]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Assassin's Creed III - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassin Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed (Video Game), Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed III Spoilers, Assassins vs. Templars, Birthday, Canon Rewrite, Drabble, Family, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Forgiveness, Gen, One Shot, POV Third Person, Post-Assassin's Creed III, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Short One Shot, Starting Over, Templars, The Templar Order (Assassin's Creed)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:26:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27891490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorellianKenway/pseuds/CorellianKenway
Summary: Haytham Kenway awakens to a revelation.
Relationships: Achilles Davenport & Haytham Kenway, Haytham Kenway & Ratonhnhaké:ton | Connor
Series: Assassin's Creed One Shots and Drabbles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/591499
Kudos: 16





	Life Ahead of Us

Immediately, the winter air pierces Haytham’s face as his eyes slowly flutter open. He brings a lazy hand up to his eyes, rubbing away the grogginess. 

Haytham takes a deep breath and in tandem, releases a long sigh. The mantelpiece in front of his bed frames the still-fresh ash from the fire that he lit a few hours ago. Needless to say, Haytham didn’t get much sleep that night. 

A sliver of sunlight creeps through the crack between the thick curtains and appears at the foot of his bed like a snake. It is barely the break of dawn. Though Haytham is normally an early riser, he often didn’t need to wake up when the sun did. Especially not today. No, today is a different day. A special day. 

It is the fourth of December, Haytham’s birthday. More importantly, it is his fifty-sixth birthday. Haytham never believed that he would reach the age of fifty-six following his rocky relationship with his son. The boy was hell-bent on uniting the Assassins and the Templars, a feat the elder Kenway knew would never be possible. 

Instead, the two men made their own, same rash decision: fighting each other to the “supposed” death. Haytham recalled that night at Fort George. He recalled the pain. Connor packed a punch and was much more experienced with a blade than Haytham had initially expected. 

What he didn’t expect, though, was Connor’s next moves. Rather than flat out killing Haytham, the boy sliced the flesh off of his right arm; using the resulting chaos as cover, Connor tackled Haytham to the ground and knocked him out cold. 

The months following the encounter at Fort George felt like a lifetime. Connor brought Haytham to the Homestead despite Achilles’s harsh reaction. However, the three headstrong stallions came to a conclusion: Connor would let Haytham live, as long as he dropped all ties with the Templar Order and laid low for the rest of his life. 

At first, the Haytham objected to the idea, vowing to die rather than betraying his Order of two decades. It wasn’t until Connor revealed that Lee had died the night after he had taken Haytham to the Homestead that the elder Kenway reconsidered. 

Several weeks and a few physical (and verbal) altercations later, Haytham begrudgingly agrees to the terms, staying at the Homestead until his full recovery. The older man’s mind drifts back to the present day as his thoughts from memory lane slowly leave. 

Today is a new day, Haytham thinks to himself. In fact, he is grateful for Connor's actions. In a sense, Connor has given him a new chance to prove himself as a decent father. The boy has made a new path for potential relationships. It was one thing to miss out on Connor’s childhood, but another thing to be a part of his adult life. 

Haytham Kenway, now fifty-six years young, gets off of his bed as his aching joints protest. After shuffling the covers and making the bed look as presentable as possible, he begins his descent down the stairs to the early morning smell of bread and coffee.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 295th birthday to everyone's favorite Templar, Haytham Kenway (12/4)~  
> Also, I know that Charles doesn't die until 1782, but I'm changing things around just for the sake of this drabble (and Haytham's redemption).


End file.
